1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a connecting assembly between a column and at least one beam.
2. Prior Art
For a conventional connecting assembly between a column and a pair of beams, Japanese Patent Application Publication (Kokai) No. 1-190838 is cited. This connecting assembly is described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. The connecting assembly 30 is disposed in a concrete-filled steel pipe column 31 of a square cross section, and more specifically, the connecting assembly 30 is located in a space 32 between a pair of coaxially aligned steel pipe portions of the column 31. In the space 32, a diaphragm 33 made of steel by pressing or casting intermediates. Through-holes 34 are formed at the center and at the four corners of the diaphragm 33; concrete is filled in the through-holes 34 so that the diaphragm 33 is mounted to the column 31 in such a manner that the concrete is united with the steel pipes and the diaphragm 33. The diaphragm 32 includes a projecting flange 35 around it, forming a square. The flange 35 includes a pair of projections 36 at the opposite sides thereof. In the drawings, only one diaphragm 33 is shown. However, another diaphragm 33 is mounted below the shown diaphragm 33 in a manner similar to the described diaphragm 33. A pair of beams 37 are unitarily welded to the diaphragm 33 and the steel pipe. The beams 37 are wide flange I-beams, in which the flanges are welded to the projections 36, respectively. Consequently, the beams 37 are connected to the column 31.
However, in the above connecting assembly, the following problems are present:
The flanges or the upper and lower ends of the beams 37 are welded to the projections 36 of the upper and lower diaphragms 33. Accordingly, the positioning of one of the diaphragms 33 must be accurate with respect to the other diaphragm 33. That is, the interval between the diaphragms 33 must be equal to the interval of the upper and lower ends of the beams 37 in order to achieve the rigid connection between the column 31 and the beams 37 by welding. This positioning is very difficult, and thus the productivity is low and the rigidity of the connecting assembly is likely to be poor.
For this reason, the connecting assembly can be applied as long as the column 31 comprises a steel pipe. However, if the steel pipe is not used, the connecting assembly may not be adequate since the flange of the beams 37 may not be supported with sufficient rigidity.
Furthermore, since the connection between the column 31 and the beams 37 is achieved by welding, the productivity is necessarily low.